Landmark Marlton diner reopens

Olga's Diner, the landmark at Routes 70 and 73 in Marlton, reopened for business yesterday morning, with owner John Stavros vowing to keep serving the fare that customers have come to expect over the last 62 years.

Last week, state revenue agents seized the property after the diner's owners failed to pay $37,000 in back taxes, but on Tuesday Stavros struck an agreement with the Division of Taxation to repay the debt.

Olga's morning manager, Libby Karaiskou, and the 25 people she said were employed there were eager to get back to work after an unscheduled seven-day vacation.

"All week long, all of us, we do nothing," she said. "We sit at home watching TV. That's it. I am happy to be back."

At 7:30 a.m. yesterday, the familiar scents of percolating coffee and sizzling bacon perfumed the eatery. The only thing missing was customers to fill the 400 empty seats.

Stavros acknowledged that bringing the customers back won't be easy - but he hopes they return.

"It is pretty hard, it is pretty difficult," he said. "Everything has slowed down. The economy is bad. The gas prices - people have to drive here, and there is no public transportation. In this town, there are too many restaurants, and they are opening three or four more up."

A long fight over a planned $57 million overpass at the diner's Marlton Circle location is another factor making it hard on business in the last few years. So much so, in fact, that Stavros decided three years ago to try to sell the diner that his mother and father started, but to no avail.

Plans for the overpass have kept interested buyers from going through with a purchase, said Jack Philbin of Weichert Realtors, the group that has the $9 million listing.

Normally, 40 to 50 customers arrive for breakfast. Yesterday morning, only a lone family of three, relatives of the owners, nibbled at food. The first paying customer didn't arrive until 8:30.

Tom Greenjack, 69, of Cherry Hill, took a perch at the counter and ordered a coffee and Danish.

Greenjack, a regular for 30 years, said he had taken his business down the road to the Marlton Diner while Olga's sat dark.

He prefers Olga's.

"Everybody knows you, and I know them," Greenjack said. "I just hope it stays open for a while."